This invention relates to coffee makers in general and, in particular, to an integrated coffee grinder/brewer combination, comprising a mill assembly for grinding coffee beans, and a brewer assembly for making coffee by pouring heated water on and through a mass of fine coffee grains that has been delivered from the mill assembly.
The coffee maker comprising both a mill assembly and a brewer assembly is per se not new in the art. A problem with this type of coffee maker has been the need, after the grinding of coffee beans into a desired size of grains by the mill assembly, for the manual transfer of the coffee grains from the mill assembly to a separate brewer. A conventional solution to this problem has been the provision of a grain filter to the housing of the mill assembly. With the progress of the grinding of coffee beans, the particles of the coffee beans are driven out of the mill housing through the grain filter and down into the brewer assembly. Heated water, produced by a water heater incorporated in the coffee maker, is subsequently directed into the mill housing and thence into the brewer assembly via the grain filter and an underlying water diffuser. Diffused by the water diffuser, the heated water pours down all over the mass of coffee grains in the brewer assembly.
This conventional solution is unsatisfactory, however, in the delivery of the heated water to the brewer assembly by way of the interior of the mill housing. The mill assembly remains wet for a while after brewing. If the user reintroduces coffee beans into the mill housing for making a fresh cup or cups of coffee while its interior is still wet, the mill assembly will fail to operate normally as the comminuted coffee grains will stick to the wet surfaces of the mill housing and will not go through the grain filter down into the brewer assembly.
A further objection to the prior art is the arrangement of the water diffuser just below the grain filter of the mill housing. Driven out of the mill housing through the grain filter, the coffee grains will fall in part on the water diffuser and thence down into the brewer assembly, with the consequent uneven accumulation of the coffee grains within the brewer assembly. The heated water subsequently poured down through such an uneven mass of coffee grains may not derive therefrom the full aroma, flavor, and strength of this beloved beverage.